The White House has removed Susan Monarez as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after she resisted calls to resign amid disagreements over vaccination guidelines, particularly those driven by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic. This dismissal came just weeks after she was confirmed by the Senate, making her one of the shortest-tenured CDC directors.
According to a statement from the White House, Monarez was not in sync with the administration’s “Making America Healthy Again” agenda and declined to step down, prompting her termination. However, her legal team pushed back, insisting she had not resigned, had no formal termination notification, and only the President has authority to remove a Senate-confirmed appointee, raising questions over the legality of the dismissal.
In response, a significant brain drain unfolded at the agency. At least four senior CDC figures including its chief medical officer, deputy heads, and the head of its immunization division resigned in protest. They cited frustration with politically motivated public health mandates that, they argued, undercut science and jeopardized the agency’s credibility.
The mass departures and the sacking of its top leader highlight escalating tensions between the Trump administration’s political directive through Kennedy’s overhaul of vaccine strategies, and the CDC’s longstanding scientific ethos. Many public health experts warn this internal crisis could severely impair U.S. responses to future health threats.